Travel Guide 2014: The 101 best hotels in the world

QT Sydney

If you like minimalist, look away now. QT Sydney has taken over the
city centre's old State Theatre and Gowings department store, and
the marriage of old-school retail glamour and high-camp theatre is
a hit. The merriment begins in the cinema-foyer-style lobby, where
black-leather-suited, red-wigged porters sweep you through the
doors (they're called 'Directors of Chaos', but that's no excuse to
punch them in the face). You'll spot salvaged gems from the old
store (the odd headless dummy), and the best rooms are in the
former corporate head offices, with original fireplaces, corniced
ceilings and old typewriters. It's vintage a gogo, but whizzed
up-to-the-minute with crazy-paving rugs and animal-head sculptures.
Downstairs is the SpaQ (men: book in for a cutthroat shave with the
heavily tattooed barber, we dare you), and Gowings Bar & Grill,
which is meat-heavy, macho - somewhere to fill your face before
collapsing, burnt out from frisky fun, beneath your asymmetrical,
hibiscus-red headboard.